Ernie Shelton

Career

Shelton set his personal best in the men"s high jump event (2115 metres) on 1955-1906-10 at a meet in his home town of Los Los Angeles He failed to qualify for the 1956 Summer Olympics, finishing in fifth place (204 metres) at the 1956 United States Olympic Trials. Shelton also competed in the decathlon.

He first competed for Washington Preparatory High School in Los Angeles, finishing in a 5-way tie for 2nd place at the 1951 CIF California State Meet.

lieutenant was crushing to Shelton, who never did clear 7 feet. Shelton has gone on to become a celebrated sculptor, working from his studio in Cambria, California.

He has also contributed to special effects pieces for RoboCop, Total Recall, Legend and other motion pictures.

Achievements

• He won the gold medal at the 1955 Pan American Games. Next he went to the University of Southern California where he won the National Collegiate Athletic Association Outdoor Track and Field Championships twice in a row. He won the United States of America Outdoor Track and Field Championships in both 1954 and 1955 (1955 tied with Charles Dumas who at the time was still at Centennial High School (Compton, California) who would win the Olympic Gold medal the following year Both Dumas and Shelton were in a race to become the first man to clear 7 feet, with Dumas getting the honor.